Lietuvos Rytas outguns Limoges

Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius overpowered Limoges CSP 93-76 on Tuesday evening at Siemens Arena to move into a tie for third place in Group C. The result left both teams with identical 2-3 records at the midway point of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season. After falling behind early, the hosts used a 13-0 first-quarter run to take the lead for good. Limoges stayed within striking into the third quarter, but the margin hit 18 early in the fourth and the outcome was never again in doubt. Rokas Giedraitis scored 20 points off the bench to pace the winners and Travis Peterson added 19. Loukas Mavrokefalidis and Jimmy Baron netted 14 points apiece and Martynas Echodas 10, while Chris Kramer dished 6 assists. Kenny Hayes paced Limoges with 16 points, Axel Bouteille posted 15 points, 4 assists and 3 steals and Brian Conklin scored 11 before fouling out.

Limoges got threes on its first two possessions – including a 4-point play by Josh Carter – to lead 2-7. Some hot shooting by Baron brought Rytas right back to 11-12. The hosts kept the momentum as four different players scored in a 13-0 run to take a 21-12 advantage. Jean-Frederic Morency ended the Limoges drought, but Peterson scored 5 in a row for Rytas’s first double-digit lead. A Morency triple ended the first quarter at 28-19. Giedraitis’s steal and slam pushed the Rytas lead to 35-21. Five different Limoges players scored in a 0-10 response to bring the visitors right back. Giedraitis’s steal and slam off an inbounds pass provided a highlight, but Bouteille’s triple drew the visitors within 39-36. Rytas produced the next 6 points, but Hayes hit a three to end the half at 45-39.

A three by Peterson and slam by Mavrokefalidis restored a double-digit lead for Rytas early in the second half. Bouteille made sure Limoges stayed close; his
assist to Brian Conklin for a jumper made it 53-49. However a pair of Peterson assists to young Echodas pushed the margin back to 10. Baron scored 5 points in one minute as the lead grew and reached 69-53 through three quarters. The lead peaked at 18 on Giedraitis free throws to start the fourth quarter. Limoges showed plenty of fight in the remaining minutes and Josh Carter made a three to close the gap to 73-64 with six minutes remaining. However a Giedraitis triple pushed the difference back to 14 and Rytas held on the rest of the way.

Head Coaches

KURTINAITIS, RIMAS

Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius

"We really needed this win. I'm glad that the players understood that because we fought hard. We used our advantage physically. The rotation maybe wasn't the best tonight, but it was enough for the win. The point difference is very important also because we will play the last game in Limoges."

"I think we gave 100% effort with our energy. We were losing too much before, so we need to win some games at home. I think that Limoges doesn’t have such great three-point shooters, but today they killed us with their three-point shots. That’s why the score was so big. "

MILLING, KYLE

Limoges CSP

"We knew the game was going to be very difficult. Pretty much from the first minute to the 40th minute, they were faster, stronger, wanted it more. And we backed up almost all night long. We knew they were going to come out because it was a live-or-die game for them. They reacted and we reacted to them instead of making them react to us. "

Players

HAYES, KENNY

Limoges CSP

"We knew they were going to come out and be aggressive. Coach warned us and said, ‘they need this win just as badly as we need this win.’ They came out tougher than us and we got behind and had to play catchup, but on their home court with an atmosphere like this, it’s tough because they play well together, they share the ball and feed off their crowd. We just couldn’t get things together tonight. "